Dear Friends,

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) issued a Press Statement on 31.7.08 expressing concern at continued politically motivated attacks against members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the general public by War Veterans in Manicaland province. In light of the agreement contained in the Memorandum of Understanding that all forms of violence must be stopped ZLHR calls on the Commissioner of Police and the Commanding Officers in the relevant Manicaland police stations to take swift action towards achieving that goal.

The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) has issued two items recently. The first is a statement on the performance of the ‘public’ media during the 2008 Presidential run-off election campaign.

The MMPZ Weekly Media Update 2008-20 was issued on 1.08.07 and covering the period July 21st – July 27th 2008 . MMPZ notes that during the week ‘the authorities again demonstrated their imperviousness to the spirit of tolerance symbolised by the recent signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between ZANU PF and the two MDC formations aimed at ending Zimbabwe’s eight year political crisis.’

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA Zimbabwe) issued a Media Alert Update on 31.07.08. The Alert reports that prominent media lawyer Harrison Nkomo was removed from remand after being arrested on 7.5.08 and charged with insulting the President of Zimbabwe in contravention of Section 33 and 41 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

Other civil society statements include:

The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) issued an Alert on 31.07.08 about its first official meeting with the new Mayor of Harare and the 46 Councillors and its plans to facilitate capacity building workshops on a number of local government themes.

For those in the UK , the Zimbabwe Vigil Coalition issued a press statement on 31.07.08 announcing a planned joint protest together with Burmese and Tibetan pro-democracy groups outside the Chinese Embassy in London on August 8th 2008 . Further information can also be found at http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/index.asp